Veteran reports Britain First for defamation over fake photo

Posted by Marmite on March 7, 2015 · Comments Off on Veteran reports Britain First for defamation over fake photo

EXCLUSIVE: Far-right group Britain First have stirred controversy after posting up an image of a Navy veteran holding up a photoshopped sign.

Britain First shared this to over 600,000 supporters.

On 5 March, the group posted up a photo of a Muslim man holding up a sign that read: “Boycott bigotry and kill all non Muslims”.

However, online groups were quick to find out that the image was taken from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

It depicted executive director Dawud Walid, who has served in the United States Navy and earned two United States Navy & Marine Corp Achievement medals.

In the original image found online, he is holding up a sign that reads “Boycott bigotry”.

The Britain First post was shared over 2,000 times when it was posted, but many were quick to point out that the image was fake, such as online group Exposing Britain First.

A spokesperson for the group said: “Britain First have lied to and cheated their gullible supporters since the beginning. They slander individuals and groups with no respect for the truth.

“But to use the image of Dawud Walid in this way is low, even for them. This is a genuine hero, humanitarian and human rights advocate whose reputation they have sullied for cheap financial gain.”

“I reported this defamation to authorities in the UK”

Yorkshire residents alerted the Yorkshire Standard about the image, which in turn got in contact with Dawud Walid of CAIR.

He had already seen the image.

He said: “Britain First used a photoshopped picture of me at a rally, which was ironically against racism. I reported this defamation to authorities in the UK.

“Xenophobic and racist political entities and pundits are growing at an alarming rate in the West. I am thankful, however, that there are many persons of goodwill who are not Muslims or immigrants that are taking on such hatred.”

UPDATE: Britain First have removed the image. However, screenshots and web cache pages have been saved.